Persimmons Coming Out My Ears!!

Hello there my fellow, food loving followers! (I have a thing for alliteration... but you already know that! See here, here, here) :P

Anywho, that's not what the topic of this post is about (unfortunately. My inner Dr Seuss would be quite elated with a whole post written in alliteration! Maybe one day!).
No, this post is about something else that I seem to have an abundance of right at the minute- PERSIMMONS!

Now, I've mentioned before how my first experience with a persimmon was not so great and I somehow managed to pick the only sour and gross and extremely crunchy persimmon I've ever had but luckily (probably around 6 months- a year later) I retried the 'dreaded' fruit (as people were still raving on about how fantastic they are) and to my utter delight experienced the sweet, rich, delightful taste of a perfectly ripe persimmon. So now of course I love them!

One of my favourite snacks- cut up perfectly ripe persimmon with a mug of ice-cold soy milk!

However... my love was given a true test when my mum said one of her friends came across super cheap full trays of persimmons at her local fresh food shop and was wondering if we wanted a tray. Of course my first response was a rapid yes! And then I may have slightly dropped my jaw at the sheer number of perfectly ripe persimmons that turned up on our kitchen bench.

Either I was going to have to get into some serious persimmon nom-ing (i.e. giving up all other food groups and simply eating persimmons for every meal) or I needed to resort to my tried and true method of preserving literally everything; Freezing!

I knew the persimmons were perfectly ripe because the first one I had for a fresh cut up snack was the most delicious, perfectly sweet, rich (sort of like a rich coconut-y flavour? I just don't know how to describe it!) and this told me that within a day or two these bad boys would be mushy, soft, sadness.

Some chopping later...

I had a full bag of chopped up fresh persimmons ready to be frozen solid in the freezer for later use.

In the mean time, I decided it was time to dust off the old creative pants and come up with some fun ways to use up the remaining persimmons (that tasted so so good!) and that is how Monday's breakfast came to fruition:

A mug of oats Steph? Seriously?
Yes- it is a mug of oats, but more specifically that is a mug of creamy dreamy, banana persimmon cheesecake oats! Topped lavishly with a big spoon of almond butter (so delicious!)

To make this I simply put around 1/2 cup steel cut oats in a saucepan with 1 sliced banana, 3/4 thinly sliced persimmon (I ate the other quarter.. hey I'd just been on a long run!), 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup water, starry-stir over medium heat until absorbed and creamy (around 15-20mins). Leave to cool slightly and then stir through some greek yoghurt (I probably added two heaped spoonfuls).

It surprised me how much the persimmon seemed to dissolve away a little bit in the porridge but the slight sweetness and creamy factor it added was so gosh darn divine! Definitely recommend adding sliced up persimmon to your next bowl of oats (probably would work best with steel cut, may be a little crunchy still in regular oats) for a next level nom-factor!

Want to see my bag full of chopped up persimmons ready for the freezer?

 I told you there were many!!
And this past weekend when I woke up on a lovely (*cold) Sunday morning, I decided it was time to test out these frozen bites of happiness and whaz them up into one of gigantor green smoothies that don't ever fit into my smoothie jar (and this day was no different!)

 Into the Vitamin went 1 large handful frozen zucchini, 1 handful kale, around 3/4 cup rolled oats and 1 teaspoon chia seeds soaked in 1 cup almond milk for 10-15 mins, 1 chopped, frozen banana, around 2 handfuls of the chopped persimmons, spinach and water- whizzed up until smoothy-smooth and delicious!

 Yes, there was quite a bit left in the blender, but simply popping a lid on your smoothie jar- into the freezer and diving into the remains with a spoon is a perfect pre-brekky snack!

 Now; this smoothie. Guys. You guys. This was incredible! So creamy, so delicious, slight taste of persimmon... gah I want it again now! (and it's been what.. an hour?)

 I used to never think a smoothie could be enough for breakfast and that I always needed something else to munch on as I drank said smoothie but when you fill your blender to the brim with all the good stuff- I'm happy for hours and hours!

And can someone also tell my body that it's weird for craving huge smoothies in winter. I'm either drinking my smoothie shivering, tucked up in a blanket, or in front of the heater every morning I decide to make one.

My smoothie and my cold legs :)

Come summer and all I'll be wanting to eat is warm, stick-to-your-ribs oats! Oh the irony!!

So yes, I have persimmons coming out my ears. I've never eaten so many persimmons in such a short space of time (they're quite expensive here in Aus so are generally a once-in-a-while treat, like fresh mangoes :) and I've got to say, I'm not complaining. In fact I'm dreaming about the next time I'm going to whip up one of these big, green, persimmon smoothies!!

What about you?

Are you a fan of persimmons?

Favourite way to use persimmons other than simply eating fresh?

Smoothies in summer or winter? What does your body prefer? Maybe my body craves the extra immune-boosting properties of all the fresh fruit and veg my green smoothies have to offer... who knows?

I hope you all have a lovely rest of your day, enjoy every second, remember all the blessings in your life (even the little ones that are so often taken for granted each day) and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D